PACE president reaffirms commitment to cooperation with Ukraine

KIEV, March 22, /ITAR-TASS/. Anne Brasseur, the president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), reaffirmed her organisation’s commitment to cooperation in reforming Ukraine’s legislation, judicial and law enforcement systems, carrying our constitutional reform and developing new electoral legislation in the country.

Brasseur met with parliament-appointed acting President Alexander Turchinov in Kiev on Saturday, March 22, to discuss the situation in the country.

Turchinov told Brasseur that the Ukrainian authorities were reforming the law enforcement, judicial and administrative systems.

Speaking of the presidential elections slated for May 25, he expressed hope that they would be held in “a transparent, democratic and effective manner.”

“We welcome all monitoring groups of our partners in these elections,” he said.

A PACE delegation headed by Brasseur is currently on a three-day visit to Ukraine from 22-24 March, during which it will travel to the eastern city of Donetsk and the western city of Lvov during a three-day visit.

The nine-member delegation - made up of the President of the Assembly, the heads of its five political groups and its Secretary General, as well as the two-co-rapporteurs for the monitoring of Ukraine - will assess the situation in Ukraine ahead of an urgent debate likely to take place at PACE’s spring plenary session (April 7-11), PACE said.

In Kiev on March 22, the delegation is due to meet the parliament speaker and acting president, the prime minister, the internal affairs minister and foreign minister, as well as the leaders of Ukraine’s main political parties and the chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People.

In Donetsk on Sunday, March 23, and in Lvov on Monday, March 24, the delegation is due to meet the governors of each region, the mayors of each city, and members of the regional councils, as well as representatives of Russian and Ukrainian cultural organisations.